The building is a parody of its real-life counterpart, the MetLife Building, located on roughly the same location in New York City. The name, being based on the MetLife signage on the MetLife Building, is a joke on the phrase "Get a Life". This might be taken as a message from the Rockstar developers to those who play video games too much. In addition, it is believed that the name "Getalife" was given to the building for the fact that "Geta" is pronounced as "Ge-T-A" (G.T.A, Grand Theft Auto). Since the real-life MetLife, Inc. is a life insurance company, it is assumed that GetaLife also works with insurance.

Trivia

The GetaLife Building is one of the first buildings shown in the first GTA IV trailer.

The facade of the building's lower base is reused for a skyscraper locating Jerkov's in Hatton Gardens and the new block of the SuffolkLCPD station.

The Getalife Building faces south in the game, but the real life MetLife Building faces north.

Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be a traditional street entrance to the building, as the base is connected to Grand Easton Terminal to the south and a building that resembles the Helmsley Building to the north.